When scientists talk about the cryosphere, they mean the places on Earth where water is in its solid form, frozen into ice or snow. Read more ...

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Arctic Climatology and Meteorolgy

Ice Hazards336 viewsA small lead (or crack in the ice) has opened in the foreground. New leads, which form under wind stress when the ice diverges, were a constant threat to the camps. Camps often had to be relocated due to the sudden appearance of an ice lead through the middle of the camp (unless the crack appeared during summer and was simply a melt channel). Image credit: EWG.

Ice Hazards325 viewsHere, melt ponds encroach on many of the buildings in the camp. Sometimes, inflatable boats were used for transportation. Image credit: EWG.

Ice Hazards327 viewsDuring summer, melt ponds posed hazards to the camp. Here, a station member rows an inflatable raft in a melt pond that has formed in the middle of the camp at NP-6. Image credit: EWG.

Ice Hazards438 viewsWhen a pond melts, a whirlpool forms, emptying the pond in minutes. This photograph of a melt pond whirlpool is from NP-6. Image credit: EWG.

Taking Scientific Measurements401 viewsOne of the primary purposes of the drifting stations was to collect all possible meteorological data while on the ice floe. This involved installing, calibrating, and maintaining the instruments. Here, researcher German Maximov conducts a routine calibration of a pyranometer (in the large tube). Image credit: EWG.

Taking Scientific Measurements356 viewsDetermining instrument location by theodolite. A theodolite is a high-precision surveying instrument. Because the ice floes rotated and changed in topography as they drifted, undergoing freezing and thawing, station members needed to regularly determine the position of the instruments relative to each other and to North. Image credit: EWG.

Taking Scientific Measurements301 viewsA ruler measures the ice freeboard, or the height of the ice above the water. Ice draft, on the other hand, is the depth of the ice below the surface of the water. Notice the elongated crystals. Image credit: EWG.